Monday Morning Writing Thoughts

It's Monday again!
The beginning of another week of chilly temperatures.
The first  full day of winter.

It's Monday again!
There are nine days left  in 2014.
There are two days left  before I turn 68.
There are three days left until Christmas.
I don't have to buy Christmas presents.
I don't  have to sing Christmas songs.
I don't have decorate my apartment.
I can wish everyone Happy Holidays
because I don't celebrate Christmas.

It's Monday again!
I have to plan my writing week.
I have to post Facebook status updates.
I have to take out the trash.
I have to visit my sister in the hospital.
I have to make my own breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
What else do I have to do?

It's Monday again!
I want to write a free verse poem
about my birthday and the New Year of 2015.

On the First Sunday in December 2014

On the first Sunday of December 2014
another day draws to an end
as the sunset
behind the western mountains
and a long autumn night begins.

On the first Sunday of December 2014
stress was tide
flowing across my mind
rising and falling
as the day progressed
and action
ebbed and flowed.

On the first Sunday of December 2014
I intone a prayer
and move forward
as best I can
knowing that tomorrow
brings more worry
and relief from worry
as the day progresses.

On the first Sunday of December 2014
I take a deep breath
and place everything
in God's hands.

On the First Friday of December 2014

On the first Friday of December 2014
clouds cover the late autumn sky
chilling the air
and arousing longings
for spring.

On the first Friday of December 2014
I contemplate the coming week
and look forward
to meeting a new optometrist
on Wednesday.

On the first Friday of December 2014
I listen
to my neighbor's music
and smile
because it helps brighten
my melancholy
December mood.

Thanksgiving Week Begins

Thanksgiving week begins
a time for family,
a time for counting my blessings,
a time for remembering,
a time for crying,
a time for laughing,
and the time to set 2015 goals.

There are 38 day left in 2014. It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating a New Year and a new beginning. On New Year's Day we set goals that we want to accomplish during the coming year. How many of those goals do we accomplish?

Thirty-eight days to review the past year and establish new goals for the New Year. Do we really want to establish new goals if we have not accomplished all of our 2014 goals? Why did some of our 2014 goals remain unaccomplished? These are questions that need to be ask before we set new goals or reset the unaccomplished goals.


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Fiction Friday: Thinking about October and November

In thirteen days, on October 1, the NaNoWriMo Prep Challenge begins on writing.com. This is thirty-one days of planning for National Novel Writing Month in November. I have already begin brainstorming my novel and even have one character profile story written in my writing.com blog. I did not intend to write this story today, but when I went to respond to the blog prompt nothing else came to mine. Since I could not think of anything else I begin a character profile description which turn into a flash fiction story.

I have my book already have my NaNoWriMo 2014 Prep Challenge book established in my portfolio, but the only thing I have in it is the calendar-check sheet for October. I have been in a semi-positive mood for a a couple of weeks, which means I am attempting to overcome my depressive tendency to procrastinate and look on the dark side. This is not easy for someone who has dealt with depression most of her 67 years of life.

My main goal for October is to spend fifteen-minutes a day planning my NaNoWriMo novel for November. I know I will have to increase my writing time in November from fifteen minutes to thirty-five or forty minutes to meet the 1,667 words a day in November. I will know by the end of October how many words I can write in fifteen minutes, which will give me an idea of how long it will take me to write 1,667 a day in November.

Second Thoughts Friday: Thoughts on Writing and Blog Themes

It is Friday, April 25, 2014, I am having second thoughts about composing an entry on today's blog theme. I have attempted for several years (I think I began in 2006 or 2007) to establish daily themes for both my blogs without much success. I used to think the problem stemmed from being a caregiver because between 2007 and 2012 I took care of my mother who suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

I do not think the stress of being a caregiver was the problem. My mother died on November 29, 2012 and we buried her in December of 2012. I spent thirteen months, between November of 2012 and December of 2013 in a fog, struggling to pay the electric and cable bill. I came out of the fog on January 1, 2014 and then in February of this year the house finally sold. I moved into a studio apartment in February. I'm still struggling to pay the cable and electric bill, but I can pay the rent.

This morning, I began to write on the theme of the day which was either Fragment Friday or Poetry Form Friday, and realized that I had nothing to say on either subject. I decided to make this Second Thoughts Friday because I could not think of anything else to write about. I am ready to give up the daily theme idea entirely, at least in its present form. What I think I will do is make a list of blog themes that I can use on a daily basis and pick a random theme for each day. I will give this a try for the rest of 2014 and see how that works for me.

Earth Day 2014 is Tuesday, April 22

When I checked my inbox this morning, I found the Earth Day Network newsletter waiting for me. It contained information about the Earth Day 2014 theme, which is Green Cities. According to the newsletter, over half of Earth's population lives in cities. This means that the urban areas are growing and the side effect of this growth is that climate change worsens.That is why we need to make it a priority to power our cities with renewable energy.

We can no longer put off the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. We have to start looking at the way we power our homes and business because the future of humanity, of our children and their lively-hood are at stake. We need to begin implementing "green practices" in our lives and in our building codes. As an individual, I am not sure how I can do this, but I intend to find out.

One of the things I plan to do very the next three months is to write poems and stories concerning the subject of climate change, renewable energy, and "green cities". I know that there are other things I can do and I have to find out what "other things" I can do. If you would like more information on the Earth Day Network's Green Cities campaign, please click on the above links.

Thoughts about a Lost Writing day

Yesterday, January 15, was a lost writing day. I wrote only 100 words  toward my daily writing goal of 2,000 words. I didn't get started writing on Wednesday morning and, as a results, I didn't  get  much of any thing written. I didn't get any work accomplished in the house either, which means I have a lot  to catchup today and tomorrow. I would like to catchup because on Saturday, I have to get my car tag renewed, which will probably take all day (if I'm unlucky).

a lost writing day
very little accomplished
I could kick myself

All right, it's impossible for me to literally kick myself; especially with the osteoarthritis in my knees. However, I feel like kicking myself because I have so much work to do today. I'm going to see what I can accomplish t his morning both with writing and housework. I just  finished drying some clothes, so now I have to go see what I can fix myself  to eat. I'm hunger, but I don't know what I want eat. I have two chocolate chip cookies to eat , so I'll get  myself another cup of coffee to go with those and then decided between oatmeal or a chicken sandwich.

a lost writing day
throws off the rest  of the week
throws off my housework

Changes in my writing habits in 2014

It’s three days into the New Year and I’ve decided to make some changes to the way I compose blog entries. Before my mother was officially diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2009, I composed all my blog entries off line in a MS Word^© document. However, around the time of Mom’s diagnose I changed to composing my entries online in the blog.

I have decided to go back to composing these entries off line in a MS Word^© because the grammar and spell check catch most of the issues I have with grammar and spelling. This way I can handle the issues and learn something at the same time. It’s also easier to do a word count this way, which helps with my daily word count goal.

The last change I’m making to the way I write and do blog entries in 2014 is to write every-other-day blog entries. There, of course, will be exceptions to this because sometimes I will need to make more then one blog entry in a day or I may have to skip a day because of unforeseen circumstances. However, overall, I will stick to the every-other-day schedule for both Poet 999 Thought about Writing and Other Stuff and Poet 999 – A Butterfly Emerges from Her Cocoon.

Thankful Thursday: On the first Thankful Thursday of 2014

On the first Thankful Thursday of 2014, I am grateful...

1. ...for the blessing of Facebook because it keeps me in touch with extended family member and old friends;
2. ...for the freshly ground Kona coffee blend I am sipping this morning and the realization that I need to sit my coffee grinder to a finer grind;
3. ...for the soft pink clouds I see as I look out the living room window because they foretell the rising of the sun over Sunrise Mountain;
4. ...that I got out of bed this morning without a lot of knee pain;
5. ...for writing.com and a portfolio where I can store my written work;
6. ...for Soulpancake where I can go to look at interesting videos and find ideas for writing;
7. ...for Youtube where I can go to look at more interesting videos;
8. ...that it is a beautiful partly cloudy morning in Las Vegas;
9. ...for the delicious pacific cod and black eyed peas I ate on New Year's Day;
10. ...for the Revelation of Baha'u'llah and the inspiration I receive from reading and meditating on the Baha'i scriptures.

Midweek Reflections on Writing in the New Year

It's January 1 and the beginning of a new writing year. Last year, in 2013, I had difficulty accomplishing my word count consistently. Therefore, I kept the daily word count goal at 2,000 words per day for the first quarter of 2014.  If I am consistent in accomplishing that goal, I will raise it to 2,500 word per day on or around March 21.

So far this week, I have accomplished that goal for the previous three day. It's still a little early in the day to say whether or not I've accomplished the goal. It was not easy accomplishing it for the past three day, so I may not have an easy time of it today. However, I'm determined to do it.

Lately, I seem to have difficulty finding subjects to write about, but it's too early in the year to say if this is a chronic problem or just a passing hiccup. I should know that by the end of January or the middle of February. If I do have problems finding themes or subjects then I have to websites that I can check for subjects.

The first is writing.com where my portfolio is stored. The second is Soulpancake where I can find numerous ideas for essays, poems, or even short stories. I'm looking forward to looking at both those website more this year then every before. Please check those website and join or subscribe.

2013 is winding down

There are nine days left in 2013 and I'm getting tired of all the crap and negativity. I'm seriously considering unfriending several people on Facebook in 2014 because of the negativity. I'm also going to git rid of the negative element in my personal life. I'm looking for positive things that I can add to my life and positive people I can add to my list of friends.

I'll be 67 years old on December 24 and dealing with negativity and crap is becoming more difficult all the time. I dislike my own negative thoughts and am working on becoming more positive. I have decided that if I want to be positive then I have to deal with positive people most of the time. I can handle a little negative without it effecting me, but after a while it becomes too much and I start reacting negatively. I don't like reacting negatively to negative people or situations because it just make matters worse.

I've been thinking about this subject for several days; however, for some reason today was the day the negativity became too much. Perhaps it's a reaction to my upcoming birthday and the realization that I'm not getting any younger. I also suspect that negativity has a detrimental effect on my health. Since I'm going to attempt to take charge of improving my health in 2014, I also think I should take charge of getting rid of the negativity in my life.

I'm also going to try making my writing a little more positive. I may have to make an exception if one of my characters is negative, but otherwise I can work toward making some of my work positive. I know that the world is full of bad and negative events, so I do have to put some of that in my writing. However, I don't have to focus on everything that negative.